VANGUARD EDITORIAL
THE resurrected failed Abuja CCTV contract scandal is just another evidence of how corruption and indolence among public officeholders have led to the current state of state failure.
Following the upsurge of insecurity in Abuja, the President Goodluck Jonathan administration approved the contract for the installation of Close Circuit Television, CCTV, in strategic parts of the Federal Capital to enable security agencies identify, prevent and solve crimes fast as is done in other developed countries.
The contract, worth $470 million, was awarded to a Chinese firm, ZTE Corporation. The financing was provided through a loan obtained from China, with about 10 per cent counterpart fund by the Federal Government. The Global Trunk Tracking technology was also suitable for election monitoring, result verification and disaster control. It had been successfully installed in countries like Ghana, Senegal, Morocco and Malaysia.
But in Nigeria, it “went into the voice mail” box. An investigation by the Seventh House of Representatives (2011 to 2015) found that the project had largely been abandoned, and the little done was with substandard equipment. The probe barked but could not bite.
Another investigation by the Eighth House of Representatives (2015 to 2019) was able to identify some individuals connected with the contract. In January 2017, the probe indicted the Ministers of Police Affairs who served under Jonathan between 2010 and 2014. These were: Alhaji Adamu Waziri, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade (rtd) and Alhaji Jelili Adesiyan. Also named was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, James Obeigbu.
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